Birth: July 29, 1940
Specialty: Chemist
Major Contributions:
Patented a spot test for detecting 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) in the field
Helped the Girl Scouts in develop a badge based on chemistry
Received the New Mexico Governor’s Trailblazer Award
Image: Los Alamos National Laboratory
As a fifty-year member of the American Chemical Society, Dr. Betty Harris has been a teacher and researcher since earning her BS in chemistry from Southern University at the age of 19.
Earning her MS degree in chemistry from Atlanta University she began a ten-year span of teaching as an assistant professor of chemistry and mathematics at Southern University, Colorado College, and Mississippi Valley State University. She then returned to her own educational pursuits earning a doctorate in chemistry from the University of New Mexico.
Hired as a research chemist at Los Alamos National Laboratory where she worked for more than twenty years, her research was in the area of hazardous waste treatment and environmental restoration of facilities contaminated with energetic materials which can include explosives, propellants, and fuels. This work included development of safing fluids which are used on spilled explosives to make them safe for clean-up.
During her time at Los Alamos, she became an expert in the chemistry of explosives working with high explosives research and development. In 1986 she developed a methodology for detecting 1,3,5-triamino-2,4,6-trinitrobenzene (TATB) in the field for which she was granted a U.S. patent. This test can be used to spot test for explosives during criminal investigations and was the predecessor for the TATB spot test used today.
Taking a leave of absence from the lab, Harris was appointed the chief of chemical technology for Solar Turbine Incorporated. She was responsible for the management of the technical laboratories and investigation of cold-end corrosion of super alloys caused by sulfuric acid and soot in gas turbine engines. At the end of her career, she spent eleven years working as a certified document reviewer at the US Department of Energy Office of Classification.
A recipient of the New Mexico Governor’s Trailblazer award, she is a member of Women in Science and Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
As part of her advocacy work for girls in science, Dr. Betty Harris helped the Girls Scouts of the United States develop a chemistry merit badge.
Written by Angela Goad
Sources:
African American History Program: Betty W, Harris
Famous Black Inventors: Dr. Betty Harris
Dr. Betty W. Harris #ALD15 @findingada
Wikipedia: Betty Harris(scientist)
See Also:
Justia Patents: Patents by Inventor Betty W. Harris
Black history spotlight on Betty Wright Harris